LOS ANGELES - If this was the end, and it had all the telltale signs, the Mavericks provided one more night of evidence that they simply are not playoff material this season.

Mathematically, they remain alive. But after the Los Angeles Lakers controlled them all night for a 101-81 victory, the Mavericks must face the grim reality that their playoff hopes bit the dust at Staples Center.

“We knew we were behind the 8-ball all season,” said Dirk Nowitzki. “This was a game we needed to have if we really wanted to make it interesting.”

The Mavericks fell behind by 16 points in the second quarter and never made it up. Their fight was commendable, but their execution and talent level simply wasn’t equal to the Lakers, who rode Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Earl Clark to the win.

The Mavericks lost the season series to the Lakers 3-1 and fell to 36-38, 2 ½ games behind the Lakers and Utah Jazz, who are tied for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

With only eight games left, passing both the Lakers and Jazz is virtually impossible. Dallas has already lost the tiebreaker against both teams.

“Yeah, this is definitely disappointing,” said Elton Brand. “This is one that we felt, if we could get, we really had a chance. So losing this one really dampens the spirits.”

The postgame locker room was despondent, to say the least. The Mavericks now find themselves needing a miraculous finish.

“We’re trying to jump over them to get to the spot,” said Vince Carter. “It didn’t happen that way. We didn’t beat them, so we have to do it a different way. We have to win out, and hopefully that will be good enough.”

Winning out would get the Mavericks to 44-38. But with three games left on this road trip, including Denver on Thursday, the prospects of that aren’t good.

“It’s a hit,” coach Rick Carlisle said of the loss.

The Mavericks were crushed in the rebounding department, giving up 19 offensive boards to the Lakers and getting whacked by 20 overall.

They had one glimmer of hope when they scored 11 consecutive points to creep within 63-58. But Clark, who gave the Mavericks fits all night, scored five points on one possession, converting a layup and also a 3-pointer after he missed the free throw. He then assisted on a layup by Antawn Jamison for a 70-58 lead.

The lead never was in danger the rest of the way with Bryant doing everything. His 10th assist was to Pau Gasol for a dunk and an 80-68 lead. At that point, he was two rebounds shy of a triple double.

The Mavericks couldn’t free Nowitzki up often enough and were drilled in the rebounding department.

It was tribute night for Shaquille O’Neal at halftime of the game and in honor of the event, the Mavericks paid homage to the long lost art of hack-a-Shaq.

As time wound down, they intentionally fouled Howard several times and each time, he made at least one free throw to foil the strategy.

Earlier, they should have gone to hack-a-Clark.

Clark was a beast with 17 points and 12 rebounds, one of four Lakers with 10 or more rebounds. The Mavericks were getting pounded on the boards and couldn’t stop the Lakers, particularly in the second quarter, when they outscored the Mavericks, 31-19, and shot 65 percent from the field.

In many ways, it was fitting that O’Neal’s jersey was retired by the Lakers when the Mavericks and owner Mark Cuban were in the house. The owner had a lot of fun back in the day jousting via mainstream media with the Lakers’ legend. He misses those days, although he doesn’t miss having to watch his team play against the big fellow.

“Of the 37 teams he played for, it’s nice he got one to retire his jersey,” Cuban joked before the game. “He’s a great guy. The NBA misses him and I miss him being in the NBA.”

To the tune of the Superman theme, O’Neal’s No. 34 went into the Lakers’ wall of fame, right next to Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – the dominant big men who preceded Shaq in LA. George Mikan, every bit as dominant in his day with the Minneapolis Lakers, also has his name, but not his jersey, on the wall.

O’Neal and Cuban have a long history. Starting with coach Don Nelson’s hack-a-Shaq strategy and moving along to a playoff series when O’Neal played for Miami. And, of course, who could forget Shaq Albert, the parody of Bill Cosby’s Fat Albert that got Cuban and the Mavericks fined $25,000 by the NBA.

“I got fined for it, but that was OK,” Cuban said. “He loved it – hey, hey hey – and it’s still on Youtube.

“I actually remember the first time playing against him, our last home game that first year and we had Erick Strickland guarding him and we beat him. The Hack-a-Shaq, giving Nellie the clown nose because he called him a clown. Shaq was great. And we’re friends. I’m happy for him.”

The personality of O’Neal was one thing. Dealing with him as a player was quite another.

“In terms of this generation of the NBA, he’s the greatest physical force we’ve seen in the last 20 years,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “I remember when I was an assistant coach in New Jersey and he was a rookie. I was putting together film to show the guys. I wanted to be careful not to show them stuff that would make them afraid to go out there because he was running fast, he was jumping high and one of my years in Jersey, he tore the backboard down at The Meadowlands.

“He had that awesome physical power, but I think the other defining thing about him is he had great charisma. He had fun with the game. He’s an ambassador for the game and this is a fitting night for him.”

Never mind that the halftime ceremony seemed to go on forever. When the Mavericks were down 55-40, they probably wished it would have lasted a little longer.

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